Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-12-17

init of one os the mountains behind the city,
which n,ornentsr'ly increased N Intensity rs
q broad. river OF molten lava flowed down the
mountain side.
We stumbled on, guided by the sound Of
tho water, witch was becoming rather roggh,
as the breeze which we had felt in tho ruins
steadily grew in strength We nuSs have
lost the road again, for the way began TO
grow raagher, eliciting groans from the poor
captain.
Neil started on ahead to Iced US, but scarce
" a minute after We lost sight Of him in the
darkness he hegan TO halloo for help. Fol-
lowing the sound Of his voice we discovered
him struggling in a quic.ssnnd, into which he
was rapidly sinking, We tugged and strained
with all our might TO release him, but
thought we never could At last, with q
herculean effort, we got him free, with the
loss of his boots, but it must have cost poor
Capt Jack an awful pang, for he ceased
swearing and sat down, utterly exhausted.
We started on again, and in few moments
the welcome sight of the cliff greeted our
eyes. Hurrying on, we rounded the pro.
montory, but stood aghast when we found
the waves beating agai lst its further side
where The stone wharf had been before. The
entire coast on that side, as far as we could
see, had been swallowed by the sea.
Where's the Swifti' said Ned.
My heart stood still at the thought of what
might have happened to her, but we were
relieved by the sight of flash followed by
the 'spangn of the yachts little brass can
non
"Ahoyln shouted Capt. Jack.
No answer.
"Ahoyn we all shouted together.
Still no answer.
We felt another ominous tremor be-
meath us
The wind was rapidly rising to a gale, and
the doleful sound seemed like dirge to US,
Suddenly Capt. Jack said, 'Gimme yer
hankerchers."
We did SO, and producing match he ig-
nited them. Grasping his idea at once, We
tore the lining from our coats, and used
every combustible article we could find on
our persons for the improvised beacon. We
would have burned our coats, too, but they
were SO wet from contact with the sea weed
that it would have been useless TO attempt it.
As it was, our signal was seen, and in few
moments we were snugly ensconced ON board
the Swift, putting out to sea, leaving the vol
cano in full eruption over the doomed city
behind u.s.
Capt. Jack, at my request, threw the log
continually, and kept as true an account as
he was able of our course, in order To ascer
tain as near as possible the location of the
island of ruins. He placed it somewhere
about 40 dogs. N. and 20 degs, W., but upon
consulting the map we found no land ind
Gated there.
On reaching a civilized country again we
heard of the terrible earthquake that o.
CURED in southern Europe during our alb
sence, and which had, from Feb. % to Feb
g. 1887, filled every one in that vicinity with
terror.
/ have this explanation to offer for our
marvellous adventure. 1t occurred when the
earthquake was at its height Consequently,
l argue, the earthquake must have been the
cause of it, believe the ruins were those of
some long lost city, which had been for
centuries submerged in the ocean depths,
and the great CONFUSION of nature cast it
forth from its resting place in the sea for n
few hours, only to submerge it again, per-
maps deeper than before, and hide from man
kind the relics of antiquity it contained
The lost island of Atlantis is said to be at
about the same spot where Capt. Jack placed
our myste ious island. 1t may be that we
had seen the ruins of part of that tabled
place. Who knowsa-S. b. Alexander in
The Argonaut